BUDAPEST–The latest changes to the Hungarian Constitution threaten democracy and the rule of law, according to the Venice Commission, the panel which advises the Council of Europe, the continent’s democracy watchdog.

The constitution shouldn’t serve as a political instrument of the governing Fidesz party, the Venice Commission also said Friday.

“This important opinion will be taken into account by the Parliamentary Assembly when it decides whether to take up a monitoring procedure on Hungary during its plenary session in Strasbourg the week of 24 June,” Council of Europe spokesman Panos Kakaviatos told The Wall Street Journal. “The Council of Europe looks forward to further cooperation with the Hungarian government.”

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A committee of the council’s parliamentary assembly recommended in April that Hungary should be subject to monitoring by the council after the latest changes to its constitution. That is a procedure usually reserved for new members. If approved, Hungary would be the first established EU country to be subject to such monitoring.

Furthermore, the European Commission is considering legal enforcement action against Hungary, known as “infringement proceedings.”

The latest amendments to Hungary’s fundamental law “contradict principles of the Fundamental Law and European standards,” the Venice Commission said.

“The limitation of the role of the Constitutional Court leads to a risk that it may negatively affect all three pillars of the Council of Europe: the separation of powers as an essential tenet of democracy, the protection of human rights and the rule of law,” it added.

The Venice Commission welcomed the government’s proposals this week that would abandon some of the problematic provisions and urged the Hungarian Parliament to approve them soon.

The government has decided to drop an amendment that allows the government to cover the cost of any future European Court of Justice fines by levying new taxes. Instead it will frame a new law that excludes the specific reference to the court and so allows the government to use taxes for a broader range of extraordinary expenses.

The government will also abandon an amendment that would give the president of the judiciary the power to transfer cases from one court to another. Critics claimed this constitutional change threatened the independence of the judiciary. The government said it will try to find another way to even out the unbalanced workload of the country’s courts.

Hungary’s Parliament first approved a new constitution, or Basic Law, drafted by the Fidesz government in 2011. At the time, the government said it was a necessary step for the country to eradicate the legacy of communism. Since then, four amendments to the constitution have been approved by Parliament, most recently March 11. The changes, or provisions, were made despite warnings from the EU and the U.S. that such measures could threaten the rule of law and weaken democratic checks and balances.

The Venice Commission said provisions that have barred the Constitutional Court from considering the legality of constitutional amendments and from applying case law and legal precedents, predating the new Basic Law, remain problematic.

Other provisions the Venice Commission found problematic are the limitations on political advertising before elections, since the limits have a disproportionate effect on opposition parties, it said.

It also criticized the absence of precise criteria for the recognition of churches and of an effective legal remedy against the decision not to recognize them.

Provisions on the dignity of communities are too vague and the specific protection of the “dignity of the Hungarian nation” creates the risk that freedom of speech in Hungary could, in the future, be curtailed in order to protect Hungarian institutions and office holders, the commission said.

The frequent changes to the fundamental law risk rendering it a political instrument, the Venice Commission said.
“The Fourth Amendment is the result of an instrumental view of the constitution as a political means of the governmental majority and is a sign of the abolition of the essential difference between constitution-making and ordinary politics,” it said.

Comments (5 of 8)

The EU doesn't like anything to move quick, they don't like the status-quo to change, and they don't like big personalities. So, right off the bat, Orban, Fidesz, et al, are doomed from the start. When you add that to the fact their policies are questionable at best, authoritarian at worst... or even perceived as undemocratc... Hungary becomes the EU's target. And Orban and his lackeys are are easy targets. Every word that spews from their mouths is textbook propaganda. Moreover, Fidesz is a totally amateur party... 12-year old amateurish... who seem to deny the fact the media is global and news is accessible. Their Stalinish tactics to outright lie to the Hunagrian people and twist facts just makes them look stupid and Hungary looks like it's being run by a tin-pot dictator. If Fidesz were intelligent enough to play the game the way it's needed in the EU ( and this is absolutely an intelligence issue, Fidesz is stupid ) they could pass their laws, no matter how outlandish, and not look like an authoritarian regime. The reality is that Orban is closer to Borat than Putin.

6:38 am June 17, 2013

Bandi wrote:

The Venice Commission are just another bunch of brainless talking heads like all the other critics of the Orban government's reforms. Even when changes the EU wanted will be made (creating a 5th changing of the constitution, so who's making too many changes now, huh EU?), that's still not enough so they want to get Hungary in their cross-hairs again to keep up the socialist-motivated pressure on this legitimately-elected majority government. I can't believe those VC idiots think that its democratic to apply case law from the old pre-2010 constitution (which, by the way, was a Stalinist one forced upon the country when they stole the 1947 election, and which amongst other things allowed the instant closing of newspapers, denied the citizen the right to defend his person or property and many other stipulations in violation of stated minimal human rights as defined in other liberal democracies) to the 2010 and post-versions which are fully in line with current EU values, so meaning undemocratic case law can be applied to democratic EU-aligned constitutions? So, the EU has two sets of values now, huh? Stalinist and Post-Communist? So which one would most member states prefer to work with or define themselves by? It would seem the VC would like both.... idiots. And our taxes are paying big money for them to sit there and be so stupid. Well done EU!

5:35 am June 17, 2013

Anonymous wrote:

Google "EU infringement cases by country" and see that the biggest offenders are the big countries of the EU: Germany, France, and the UK.

5:29 am June 17, 2013

Good&Bad wrote:

There are both good and bad news in these developments.

At least the European Commission has decided to wait for the professional opinion of the Venice Commission. For a while it looked like the EC is driving its own agenda, with complete disregard to other opinions. (perhaps they still do, but play tactics)

It is also true that the Orban gov. has been playing politics with the process of drafting a new Constitution. But the other actors also play politics with it. You think the EC is a neutral body? Don't be naive. The EC is equally dirty.

It also looks rather ugly, that external political forces reach into Hungary to influence the political process of creating a Constitution. This entire process should be left 100% to the Hungarian people. Why is the EC injecting itself into this process? It is not their Constitution.

As for "infringement proceedings", those are just a humbug. There are dozens of infringement proceedings against many EU members: France has 10 open cases, Germany has 9, Belgium has 7, Denmark has 6 and so on...Hungary has 3 open cases.

12:58 am June 17, 2013

We Need a ....better: PARTY ! JOBBIK! wrote:

This jerk at 9:33 pm June 16, 2013 is a :
Just another ZIONIST pig ! Typical of its kind, wasting no time it can see the "..such a blatant anti-semitism.." !
Not bad from a "nameless" JEW- not bad ! Right away it sees the "Venice Commies pointing out"-s , "Regarding Soros.." You're wrong (!) and the "The constant whining about Trianon.." NOW for that, I would personally kindly and wholeheartedly will show you some other tricks..., after the treatment You could even (!) taste (!) different colors and you'll (!) see (!) sounds, you fri>*in' snake !
You know "Anonima" jackass, we Hungarians know which hole has snake and what comes out of it, but more importantly, my Nation from now on, in the future will know what to do with them - included YOU(r kind) you Hungarian hater, RACIST-PIG !
You Get lost from here, you'll have no room among us any longer, you can go back to u. Jurassic-caves before some other hungarian brother will kick u. a#ss way up high too - you "goon, no one will hear your " Crying wolf 'anti-semitism' tricks, no more !" - do you hear me you Snake ? !

"blatant anti-semitism" Heh ?! I hope than you be able to show 'which part' and 'who' was or 'is' a : blatant antisemite !

You're a " anti semitism-Crying wolf" and weasel, just another Zionist-Racist Snake !
The World had enough and bored of your "anti-semitism" PHONY trickster Ayayyay-Ayayyay-ings and at the same time Israel is the one who full with Racism, as an oppressive, colonialist, expansionist and supremacist “Jewish State” of (Greater) Israel it contains an astonishing amount of Zio-supremacist injustice, immorality, hatred and supremacism !

Just to show everybody (but not YOU jerk at 9:33 pm June 16, 2013 ! ) one of an"...." other major news outlet's(TWP)" ...findings are based on an academic study of 65 countries. Where the question was :
Share that answered, 'People of another race' when asked to pick from groups of people they would not want as a neighbor.
The USA scores under 5 percent. Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Balkans, France and Turkey all score in the 20s and 30s. ("There is ample evidence that Israelis would register on this scale. Nearly half of Israeli Jews oppose having Arab neighbors, according to an Israeli news site.")
And do you know where Hungary is on that " map " ?
15 % !

So you RACIST Snake, get your stinkin' a*&s out of here ! And you better be -quietly- stay there ! You stinkin' Skunk !

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